Apologetics

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by Terry Barlow
01/07/21
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All that You are and all that You have is mine
not mine to be, because only You can be God, but mine to have constant intimate access to Your glorious Being.

But just as it is not only possible but common to have frequent foretastes of heaven on earth, so it is possible and even common for many to have frequent fortastes of hell on earth. 
In fact, to live without hope on earth is to live a life which is like hell on earth.
We were all born with our built-in GPS preset for an eternal hell, but, thank God, we can press "exit navigation" through Christ and change our destination once and for all for heaven, and then experience little previews along the way.

If it's true that the church has been in denial about the extent of the horror of the suffering of Jesus both leading up to and including his crucifixion, ( and I believe and agree that it is true) then it's also true that the church has been in denial about the existence and horrific nature of hell and the depth and intensity of its terrible torments which actually made the Cross of Christ a necessity.

There is already torment for those who died rejecting Jesus Christ and therefore are separated from God. But that torment is not yet of a physical kind because their bodies have not yet been resurrected. Just as the bliss of the redeemed in heaven is not fully complete until they are reunited with their bodies at the resurrection of the just, so the misery of those in hell is not complete until they have been reunited with their bodies at the resurrection of the unjust.